Orchard Training at Clapham Common - People, Pruning, Pests and Permaculture.

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Julian Sanders
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1 Orchard Training at Clapham Common - People, Pruning, Pests and Permaculture.

2 Aims 1. Develop technical tree knowledge to care for your orchard 2. Learn more about community orchards 3. Developing your orchard management plan

3 People

5 A place to spend time Paths Benches Signs Local history Information sheets

6 Keeping everyone in the loop Newsletters Website Local and national media Project Dirt The London Orchard Project Flickr site London fruit tree maps

7 Eating and sharing the harvest Off the tree for yourselves or the whole community? Processing and distribution would you like to create an income? While you re waiting for your trees to fruit

9 Outreach and preventing vandalism Getting as many people involved in the planting as possible Longer term projects with young people- local schools and youth clubs

11 A place to have fun Wassailing Blossom festival Apple days

12 Wassail!

13 Celebration tree dressing

14 Apple bobbing still a classic after more then 1500 years!

26 Essential Tree Care

27 Establishing your trees: Water, water, water! Watch for bud-burst Water once or twice per week 20L per tree per week Watering will prevent a whole host of diseases. After 2/3 years trees will be self-sufficient.

28 Mulch and weeding: 1m weed-free around the tree

29 Mulch ado about nothing? Suppresses weed/grass competition Retains moisture Builds soil from top down, feeding tree Regulates soil temperature Increases soil foodweb diversity Creates fungally dominated soil that mimics forest soil best for fruit trees so don t forget to keep topping up!

30 Feeding your tree Not mandatory if normal soil, will benefit tree after a few years though (don t in first year) Your mulch will feed! Fertilizing can harm the tree s mycorrhizal association with fungi in the soil. Use small amounts of organic fertiliser/manure if foliage change suggests nutrient deficiencies. Top dressing with manure will also help fruiting. Remove fruit in first couple of years (sorry!)

31 Amazing Mycorrhizae! Increased root surface

32 Pruning

33 Why do we prune fruit trees? Un-pruned trees will still produce fruit but pruning improves quality of the fruit and prolongs the life of the tree

34 Formative pruning: Creates a strong framework for the tree to grow into Determines the shape and size of the tree Ongoing pruning: Ensures enough light and air for healthy fruit Keeps the tree vigorous and strong Makes harvesting easier

35 As a general rule, prune pip fruits in winter and stone fruits in summer Remove any growth from below the graft union

36 Understanding the tree Different root-stocks, different sizes of tree

37 This is made possible through grafting - all fruit trees are made up of two different trees

39 From Leonard Mascall s A Booke of the Arte and Manor, How to Plant all Sortes of Trees 1572

42 Two types of buds

43 How to prune your fruit tree Central Leader Tree Open Centre Tree

44 Pruning cut close to the bud

45 Basic pruning for young trees Look to create structure Prune out inward facing or crossing branches Try to create a goblet shape of branches Always prune to just above an outward facing bud

46 Pruning larger branches

47 General rules Prune apples and pears in winter and stone fruit in summer 3Ds remove any Dead, Dying or Diseased wood Remove anything growing from below the graft union Do not take off more than 20% of living wood in one year (once framework established) Remove crossing, rubbing or competing branches

48 Setting up the structure Think about where you want the canopy of the tree to form Select 4 5 well-spaced laterals to form the main scaffold branches. These will be staggered up the trunk and radiate like wheel spokes Cut these back to a third of their length, to an outward facing bud Cut back the remaining growth, this can be done gradually The central leader can be removed or left in place

49 Ongoing pruning Regulated pruning: traditional form, least complicated, beneficial for wildlife Remove: 3Ds Weak or unproductive branches Crossing or congested branches Branches growing in towards the tree Aim to have a rotation of pruning across the framework branches to ensure renewal

53 Pests

54 Pest and disease organic control Observation (again!) IPM Integrated Pest Management Spotting problems early Disrupting pest life cycles Diverse system = balance Patience may be required! Community orchards, not commercial

55 Scab (Venturia) on Pyrus

56 Apple scab

57 Scab Widespread fungal disease of apples and pears most common disease in London (not all fungi are our friends) Over winters in fallen leaves & twigs Spores released and are blown or splashed onto newly emerging leaves Worst in cool, wet periods in spring/early summer.enter 2012! (The Chinese year of scab???)

58 Scab solutions Remove infected fruitlets in summer, mature fallen fruits in autumn & dead fruits left on tree in winter. Remove all fallen leaves in autumn & compost? Speed up decomposition of leaves to disrupt lifecycle: - Mow fallen leaves underneath tree - Wee on the leaves? Or nettle tea, compost tea Prune out diseased material Prune for airflow leaves dry quickly

59 Powdery mildew (Podosphaera leucotricha)

60 Powdery Mildew Fungal disease thousands of spores result in fuzzy, white coating New growth distorted and stunted can seriously affect growth and fruits Water stress can be a factor Solutions: Remove affected leaves when first detected Prune out infected branches Ensure adequately watered

61 Apple Canker (Neonectria galligena)

62 Apple Canker Fungal disease which attacks bark Can begin with wound or woolly aphid Causes sunken area of dead bark & eventually death of branch through girdling Form from mid-spring, and then present all year More serious on wet, heavy and/or acid soils Solution prune it out & burn/remove from site

63 Rosey apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea)

64 Aphid leaf damage

65 Aphid fruit damage

66 Aphids vegetarian vampires Most common pest Complex lifecycle. Most are female and can reproduce asexually (live young and eggs!) Overwinters as eggs laid previous autumn in crevices on the trunk, branches, and twigs Hatch timed to coincide with new growth Causes curling leaves and sometimes stunted fruits

67 Aphid answers Remove by hand small scale Vegetable oil spray? Stop the farmers! Bug glue/grease bands Attract predators lacewing, hoverfly, ladybirds, blue tits Don t over-do the N Patience!

68 Woolly aphid (Eriosoma laningerum)

69 Woolly aphid - the dreaded cotton wool White, waxy residues on bark and branches Sticky, sugary honeydew on bark infected with black sooty mould Can lead to cankers Over winters as young in bark crevices warm winter = trouble MM106 resistant rootstock?

70 Woolly aphid solutions Regular checks of bark brush off with sturdy toothbrush as soon as they appear (esp June) Attract predators earwigs, lacewing, hoverfly, ladybirds, blue tits plants and overwintering spots Attract parasitic wasp Aphelinus mali

71 Apple sawfly (Hoplocampa testudinea)

72 Apple sawfly Adults active on warm spring days, lay eggs in blossom Larvae hatch & burrow into fruitlet skin characteristic ribbon scar Burrow to core to eat pips premature fruit drop Can reduce yield due to fruit drop

73 Sawfly solutions White sticky traps? remove attacked fruitlets from May (characteristic holes and wet brown frass) Pick affedted fruits off ground Examine clusters where fruit touch Carabid beetles feed on larvae and pupae in mulch provide habitats

74 Codling moth (Cydia pomonella) the maggot in the apple

75 Codling moth Serious pest in organic orchards as larvae directly damages fruit Adult flight and egg laying between May- Aug, can be more than one generation in hot summers Eggs laid singly on fruitlets and hatch in June, larvae burrow into apple, feed for several weeks before leaving fruit to pupate in loose bark or leaf litter.

76 Codling moth solutions Check fruitlets June entry hole blocked with dry frass Encourage earwigs and other predators that eat eggs Remove and destroy infected fruitlets during thinning Disturb mulch in autumn for birds to eat larvae Tie corrugated cardboard around trunks and branches to collect overwintering larvae Pheromone traps Bats eat up to 500 moths a night

77 Pheremone trap used for several moth species

78 Silverleaf

79 Fireblight

80 Welcoming the cavalry.

82 Hoverfly or Syrphid fly

83 Lacewing (Chrysoperla rufilabris)

84 Plants to attract hoverflies & lacewings Umbelliferous and yellow flowered plants - Sweet ciciley, dill, fennel - Daisies, sunflowers, poached egg plant, dandelion

85 Earwig (Forficula auricularia)

86 Blue tit aphid & caterpillar vacuum

87 Bug hotels

89 Permaculture

90 A very brief intro to forest gardening & beneficial guilds

91 Key features a wide and diverse range of plant species majority of soil is not dug soil surface is covered with low growing plants and sometimes mulch materials N-fixing and other mineral accumulating plants Mainly perennial long term Multipurpose Mixed few large blocks of single sp

92 White clover Trifolium repens

93 Nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus)

94 Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)

95 Perennial leek (Allium ampeloprasum)

96 Daffodil garlic (Allium neapolitanum)

97 Apple mint (Mentha suaveolens)

98 Sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata)

99 Redcurrant (Ribes rubrum)

100 Autumn olive (Eleagnus umbellata)

101 Considerations What to plant? Edible? Aesthetics? When to plant Sourcing plants propagate? Share with other groups? Start with the dripline Orchard management plans!

102

Growing Tips: Pests and diseases

Growing Tips: Pests and diseases Troubleshooting Fruit trees make fantastic homes for lots of wildlife, although not all of it will be welcome! Keep your eyes open and check your trees regularly for signs